Lula puts pressure on businessmen to finish the work on the Oeste-Leste railroad by 2026

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) signed, this Monday morning (3), the start of works on the first section of the West-East Integration Railroad (FIOL) in Ilhéus, Bahia. The stretch is 127 kilometers long and will consume R$ 1.1 billion, with a forecast of lasting 36 months and generating 1,200 jobs.

The stretch launched this Monday will pass through the cities of Ilhéus, Uruçuca, Ubaitaba, Gongogi, Itagibá, Aurelino Leal and Aiquara, with operation scheduled to start in 2027. The work will be carried out by Bamin Ferrovia, which won the bid in 2021, and executed by the TCR-10 consortium, formed by the Brazilian company Tiisa and the Chinese company CREC-10.

According to the government, this first stretch (FIOL 1) will be 537 kilometers long, passing through 19 municipalities. In all, the railway will be 1,500 kilometers long, divided into three sections.

The other two stretches will be launched later as part of the work package that should be launched this July as a “New PAC” – now called the Annual Contract Plan. The railway will connect the future port of Ilhéus, on the north coast of Bahia, to the municipality of Figueirópolis (TO), at which point it will be connected to the North-South Railway. The expectation is that the modal moves 60 million tons of cargo per year.

During the launch, Lula said that he hoped that the first tenders for the railroad, launched in 2010, had already been completed. “I imagined that it would have opened before 2023,” she said.

Lula also stated that he expects companies to work “overtime, work on weekends if necessary” to inaugurate the railroad by December 31, 2026, the last day of the current administration’s term. “Otherwise we run the risk of another ‘bad thing’ returning to this country and it being stopped again”, he shot.

The pressure for businessmen to finish the work still in this administration comes days after the president himself demanded results from the ministers in the last presidential meeting.

The president also criticized the lack of national production of rails and sleepers for railroads by steel companies and that Brazilian exports of iron ore are smaller than those of Australia.

Lula also mentioned the launch of PAC 3 with works on railways, ports, airports and the construction of two million housing units of Minha Casa Minha Vida, in addition to the relaunch of social programs such as Água para Todos and Luz para Todos.